Method of shoemaking



A g. 13. 19 0 M. E. DUCKQFF 2, 11 56 METHOD OF SHOEMAKINGv Filed Feb. 15, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l fllllllll jL 13, 1940- M. E. DUCKOFF METHOD OF SHQEMAKING Filed Feb. 15, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 13, 1940 warren, STATES P TENT ori ice Maxwell E. lluckoff, Manchester, N. ,H., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Bor- I U ough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 13, 1937, Serial No. 125,635

I Claims. (o1.12 142)] 1 a This invention relates to improvements in methods of shoemaking and is herein illustrated in its application to the manufacture of shoes having insoles with central forepart openings and 5 outsoles with central forepart projections that are complemental to the insole openings.

The bottoms of shoes of the type above referred to, having no insoles in their central forepart areas, are generally regarded as being more flexible than the bottoms of shoes having insoles of the conventional construction. However, the excess thickness of the central forepart areas of the outsoles and the double sole structure in the forward marginal portions of the bottoms of such shoes are factors which militate against the securing of a maximum amount of flexibility in the shoes. Moreover, in cases where an insole and an outsole are split from a sole blank of laminated formation the outsole forepart projection and the insole forepart rand portion may have even more tendency to stiffen the shoe bottom inasmuch as those portions may consist of two or more layers which are bonded together and which for that reason do not bend or flex so readily as if they were each of integral or one piece formation.

In View of the foregoing it is an object of th present invention to minimize the stiffeningeffect of the outsole projections and the insole 3 rand portions in shoes of the above-mentioned type and thereby to render such shoes even more flexible than those heretofore manufactured.

With this'object in view the invention provides an improvement in shoemaking methods which consists in forming in the forepart of a sole blank a plurality of cuts extending crosswise of the blank, and thereafter dividing the blank into an insole having a central forepart opening and a marginal forepart rand having transverse cuts therein and an outsole having a central forepart projection complemental to the insole opening and having transverse cuts therein.

The invention further consists in such other improvements in methods of shoemaking as will be hereinafter described and claimed.-

The invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings forming part of the specification, in which Fig. 1 is a view, partially in section and partially in elevation, illustrating the operation of grooving a laminated sole blank which is subsequently to be divided into an insole and an outsole; r

Fig. 2 is. a perspective view of the sole blank 55 after it has been grooved;

Fig. 3'is a sectional view taken along the line III-III of Fig.- 2;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the grooved insole and the grooved outsole produced by means of a splitting operation performed upon the sole blank shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of a sole blank of solid or non-laminated formation, the blank being shown as it appears after having been divided or split but before having been Q6 grooved;

Figs. 6 and 7 are fragmentary perspective views of the insole and the outsole, respectively, which are produced by the performance of splitting and grooving operations upon the sole blank if; shown in Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a view, partially in elevation and partially in longitudinal section, of a shoe embodying the grooved insole and the grooved outsole;

and

Fig. 9 is across-sectional view of the forepart of a shoe which is similar to that shownin Fig. 8 but in which the outsole island or projection is formed as an integral part of the-sole.

In Fig. 1 a sole blank I2 is shown resting upon 5 Q a supporting table I4 and being operated upon by a series of rotary cutters l6 which are mounted in spaced relation on a driven shaft I8 and. which function tomake a series of parallel cuts or grooves 20 in the blank as the latter is fed 30 edgewise across the table in a direction transverse to the longitudinal axis of the blank. As shown, the cutters I6 are constructed and are ranged to remove material from the sole blank so as to form in the forepart thereof a series of 35 open grooves which are V-shaped in cross-section so that after the insole and the outsole produced by the splitting of the blankhave been incorporated in a shoe the grooves will be capable of closing so as best to facilitate the bending of the bottom of the shoe in accommodating itself to the flexing movements of the foot. It should be understood, however, that an appreciable amount of flexibility may be obtained in. the shoe bottom as a result of merely cutting or slashing the material ofthe sole blank without actually removing any of the material.

The illustrated sole blank 12 is of a thickness corresponding tothe combined thickness of desired insole and outsole portions and, as illustrated, the blank is of laminated formation comprising a sole-shaped layer 22 of insole material and a sole-shaped layer 24 of outsole material which is secured ,to the layer 22 bypmeans of cement. As shown, thevlayer' of .outsole material is larger than the layer of insole material in order that the outsole to be produced from the blank may be adapted to project beyond the upper of the shoe in which it is to be incorporated. A laminated sole blank such as that just described may be made, for example, by cementing a block insole to a block outsole and thereafter simultaneously rounding the blank in a double knife rounding machine, such as that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,057,665, granted October 20, 1936, upon application of F. E. Bertrand. If desired, however, the insole and outsole layers may be shaped substantially to final sole edge contour before being secured together or a sole-shaped blank may be employed which is of solid or non-laminated formation, such as the blank I20 shown in Fig. 5.

Either before or after having been cut or grooved as above described the sole blank I2 is split in planes substantially as indicated by the line X-X in Fig. 3 to divide the blank into an insole 28 and an outsole 30, see Figs. 4, 6 and 7,

' the insole havinga central forepart opening 32 surrounded by a forepart rand portion 34 and the outsole having a central forepart projection 36 which is complemental to the insole opening 32. By reference to Figs. 4 and'l, it will be seen that the splitting operation will result in forming a substantially plane surface 40 upon the upper side of the heel and shank portion of the outsole and around the edge of the forepart thereof and that the central forepart projection of the outsole will have a frusto-conical surface comprising a sloping marginal portion 42 and an upper surface 44 which was originally a part of the upper surface of the sole blank. By reference to Figs. 4 and 6 it will be seen that, as a result of the splitting operation, the insole 28 will be formed with a plane surface 46 on the lower side of its heel and shank portion and around the edge of its forepart and with a beveled surface 48 which defines the forepart opening 32 and is complemental to the sloping portion 42 of the outsole projection. The above-described splitting operation may advantageously be performed by means of a so-called matrix roll type of splitting machine such as that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,053,304, granted September 8, 1936, upon an application of William D. Thomas.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the sole blank may be first grooved and later split or, as illustrated in Fig. 5, the sole blank may be first split and thereafter grooved. In either case there will be provided, as a result of the splitting and grooving operations, an outsole having a series of parallel open grooves 50 (Fig. '7) in its forepart projection 36 and an insole having a series of open grooves 52 (Fig. 6) in its marginal rand portion 34. If the sole blank is split before being grooved the insole and the outsole produced by the splitting operation are maintained with their complemental portions in mating or interfitting relation while being subjected to the action of the grooving means thereby insuring that the grooves in the insole will be alined with those in the outsole when the soles are incorporated in a shoe so that the grooves will function most effectively to increase the flexibility of the bottom of the shoe.

In making a shoe in which'the above-described insole and outsole are to be incorporated the insole 28 is secured to the bottom of the last, an upper 54 is lasted and secured to the margin of the insole in any suitable manner and the outsole 3!] is attached in mating relation with the insole, i. e., with the forepart projection upon the outsole fitting within the forepart opening in the insole. The outsole may be attached as by means of cement as indicated in Fig. 9, or by stitching. Thereafter a heel (not shown) is attached, a sock lining 56 is inserted, and such other finishing operations are performed as may be required.

It will be appreciated that by forming the grooves in the material of the sole blank in accordance with either species of the hereindescribed method the preparation of the shoe bottom parts is carried out in a particularly economical manner inasmuch as it is unnecessary to perform separate cutting or grooving operations upon an insole and an outsole. Moreover, the grooves in the forepart of the outsole and the corresponding grooves in the forepart of the insole will be accurately alined with, and will be in effect continuations of, one another so that a maximum amount of flexibility will be insured in the bottom of the forepart of the shoe.

While the grooving operation performed upon the sole blank is useful for increasing the flexibility of the soles produced therefrom, whether the blank, and consequently the soles, are of laminated or solid formation, the operation is particularly effective in cases where the blank and the soles are of laminated formation inasmuch as the grooves, which extend nearly through one of the layers, reduce to a minimum the resistance of that layer to bending and thus practically offset such stifiening effect as resulted from the cementing together of the layers which constituted the blank. Moreover, it should be understood that while the cuts or grooves have been herein illustrated as being spaced substantial distances apart they may advantageously be made very close together in which case there will be imparted to the soles ultimately produced a desirable softness at their foot-engaging sides in addition to the flexibility hereinbefore referred to.

The features of shoe construction Shown in the drawings are not claimed herein, the same being the subject-matter of my divisional application, Serial No. 237,932, filed Oct. 31, 1938.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. That improvement in shoemaking methods which consists in forming in the forepart of a sole blank a plurality of cuts extending crosswise of the blank, and thereafter dividing the blank into an insole having a central forepart opening and a marginal forepart rand having transverse cuts therein and an outsole having a central forepart projection complemental to the insole opening and having transverse cuts there- 2. Thatimprovement in shoemaking methods which consists in removing material from the forepart of a sole blank along lines extending crosswise of the blank, and thereafter dividing the blank into an insole having a central forepart opening and a marginal forepart rand having transverse cuts therein and an outsole having a central forepart projection complemental to the insole opening and having transverse cuts therein.

3. That improvement in shoemaking methods which consists in forming in the forepart'of a laminated sole blank comprising a layer of insole material secured by adhesive to a layer of out sole material, a plurality of cuts extending part way through said layer of insole material, and thereafter splitting said sole blank substantially in the plane of adhesion except in a locality around the central forepart area of the blank and in that locality splitting obliquely through said layer of insole material thereby dividing said blank into an insole having a central forepart opening and a marginal forepart rand having a plurality of cuts therein and an outsole having a central forepart projection complemental to said insole opening, said projection comprising material cut from said layer of insole material and having a plurality of cuts therein.

4. That improvement in methods of shoemaking which comprises performing both cutting and splitting operations upon the material of a sole blank, said cutting operation consisting in forming a plurality of transversely extending cuts in the material of the marginal and central portions of the forepart of the blank and said splitting operation consisting in dividing the blank into an insole and an outsole by a cut forming a substantially plane surface on the upper 'side of the heel and shank portion of the outsole and around the edge of the forepart thereof and a frusto-conical surface in the central portion of said forepart extending through the insole to the upper surface of the latter, said out forming also a plane surface upon the lower side of the heel and shank portion of the insole and around the edge of the forepart thereof and a surface compleinental to that of the sloping sides of said frusto-conical outsole surface around the central forward portion of the insole, said splitting and cutting operations cooperating to form in the insole a central forepart opening surrounded by a marginal rand portion having a plurality of transverse cuts therein and forming a central forepart projection on the outsole complemental to the insole opening and having a plurality of transverse cuts therein, securing an upper to said insole, and attaching said outsole with said forepart projection fitting within said forepart opening in the insole.

5. In shoemaking methods wherein a sole blank is provided having a thickness corresponding to the combined thickness of desired insole and outsole portions, that improvement which comprises forming a plurality of transverse cuts in said blank and thereafter splitting said blank into insole and outsole portions each having portions of said cuts therein.

MAXWELL E. DUCKOFF. 

